How Flock Safety broke into Northern Kentucky

In early May, social media posts about Flock cameras had only just begun circulating around Northern Kentucky. People were still learning what automated license plate readers were — but increasingly, they were concerned as cases of police misuse surfaced nationally.

Newport Police Department Captain Kevin Drohan was ready to get ahead of the local mistrust. He was at a special meeting of the city council on May 11, to make the case that the city should buy the Flock cameras they had been testing for free.

Only a handful of residents attended that meeting, and only a couple addressed the council about surveillance concerns directly. One was concerned data would be shared with federal agencies to track immigrants or people seeking reproductive healthcare.

Then, Captain Kevin Drohan spoke to the commissioners, a presentation ready on the screen. Newport had just ended a free trial of Flock’s technology, and Drohan said it had gone well. He told commissioners about the guidelines a recently-passed state law put on automated license plate readers. He offered an extensive explanation of the technology. He described the safeguards in place. He also walked commissioners through what data they could share.

“We are in full control,” Drohan said, telling the commissioners about an audit assistance tool that could be enabled or disabled as needed. An option to share data with federal authorities could also be turned on and off in the same way, he said.

Drohan was prepared for the meeting thanks to a set of extensive notes from Flock Safety representatives, sent to the captain before the meeting. In his presentation, Drohan reliably followed the outline from the company, emphasizing their selling points. And even after the meeting, Flock Safety continued to send talking points to Drohan in order to sway commissioners — helpfully broken down into “board-friendly” language.

Dany Villarreal Martinez

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WVXU

In an email to WVXU, Drohan said that kind of communication with Flock was key to understanding the system. “This ensured that we were prepared to provide accurate, informed responses to questions from commissioners and the public,” he wrote.

This kind of coordination wasn’t uncommon between Northern Kentucky police departments and Flock. Emails between company representatives and local leaders obtained by WVXU through a Freedom of Information Act request shed more light on the tactics Flock used to spread their cameras throughout the region.

First, Flock would build personal relationships with law enforcement officers, bringing departments free food while offering various free programs to test the technology. Once a relationship formed and the department signed a formal agreement, Flock pushed to lock down contracts with discounts and other incentives.

And crucially, Flock’s free trials and entry-level systems were priced at a point where law enforcement agencies could sign up on their own, without seeking approval from city councils or county commissions.

Northern Kentucky University Associate Professor of Public Administration Darrin Wilson said Flock’s sales strategies aren’t new, but they work. Once a police department vouches for the company, others in the region follow.

“I think that that's key because that just shows it's just the sales tactic — with the lunches and the presentations and the talking sheets and all that,” he said.

This report is based on emails between Flock and five local police departments: Newport, Independence, Fort Thomas, Boone County and Kenton County.

Independence, Fort Thomas and Kenton County declined to comment for this story, and Flock Safety did not reply to multiple requests for comment.

As of early October, all these cities and counties have since terminated or paused their relationship with Flock.

Connections over brunch

Automated license plate readers are AI-powered police investigative tools. They are not unique to Flock, but the company’s name has become synonymous with the larger technology, which has sparked protests and pushback across the country.

In Northern Kentucky, the path to Flock camera approval often doesn’t run through a city council or county commission. According to state and city laws, contracts are only subject to council or city manager approval when they reach a certain dollar amount.

“Even if it had to be voted on by city council, it was a small amount and small number that honestly probably didn't raise any red flags with anybody in the community, or almost nobody in the community,” Wilson said of Flock’s contracts.

Flock’s free trials and some of the company’s smaller contracts stayed under that threshold, so the company could begin operating in a city or county with only a lieutenant's or captain’s signature.

And so, the first stop for Flock salespeople were police officers.

By early 2025, emails show most police departments were already in communication with Kentucky Territory Sales Manager Hunter Kuykendall.

In Boone County, almost all communication went through Captain Aaron Millson. When an automated newsletter email from Kuykendall went to Detective Rick Crowder of the Boone County Sheriff's Department, Crowder responded, directing Kuykendall to Millson. But he tipped his hand in the signature, indicating how excited he was about the technology by signing it “future Flock user.”

Dany Villarreal Martinez

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WVXU

Crowder declined to comment, but a sheriff’s office spokesman said the county has since placed camera installation on pause.

Once he made in-roads through email, Kuykendall brought lunch or breakfast to officers and met with them in-person. Last November, he wrote to Millson in Boone County offering food:

“Sir, I saw a few Facebook posts from local businesses bringing by breakfast, so I called your office and coordinated a breakfast drop-off for Friday morning,” Kuykendall wrote. “I plan to provide food for roughly 30 people. If you're available for a quick sync, great; if not, no worries.”

In the process of building these professional relationships, Kuykendall also built personal ones with several law enforcement leaders. When he was transferred to Ohio a couple of months later, he wrote a lengthy goodbye to Kenton County Dispatcher Brent Cummins:

These relationships were just the first step. Once Kuykendall met face-to-face with law enforcement leaders, Flock began offering them free trials and demo cameras. Soon, they would have memorandums of understanding with the departments — legally binding agreements which gave the officers free access to Flock’s network without needing their own cameras.

‘Project Prove-It’: Flock Safety’s free trial and more

While Kuykendall worked to establish more personal connections in Northern Kentucky that would eventually lead to contracts, he also offered “risk-free” trials of the technology to various cities.

One of these is “Project Prove-It” — Flock’s name for a standard 60-day free trial of its cameras. The company doesn’t require any up-front payment, and would only send the first bill after an official contract was signed. Flock was flexible with these free trials: the company often extended them months beyond the expiration date.

The process could take awhile. In Newport, Captain Kevin Drohan signed up for a free trial in May 2025. State and private permit requirements delayed the first camera installation by more than six months, so the trial didn’t officially kick off until late December 2025, and ended up lasting well beyond the 60 days.

“We extended the PPI trial beyond the standard 60-day period to collect comprehensive, actionable data,” Drohan told WVXU over email. “The additional time allowed us to evaluate the technology thoroughly and make a well-informed decision based on sufficient evidence, reflecting our commitment to due diligence and responsible decision-making.”

The cameras were still free — and hadn’t been formally approved by elected officials — when Drohan stood before commissioners in May 2026 to make the case for the program.

Flock also offered the Boone County Sheriff Department a “Project Prove-It” contract, with the promise that all of the region's Flock cameras could combine to create a full “virtual gate.” But the county went with a legally binding agreement, or memorandum of understanding, instead.

For Boone County, Kuykendall recommended 30 cameras to start. Millson had previously planned to bring the program to the commissioners, but was delayed. Now, he prepared to try again and asked for Kuykendall’s help.

Millson also asked Kuykendall for real local data. Kuykendall sent a PowerPoint presentation to help with the pitch.

In Independence, when Colonel Brian Ferayorni was preparing for the city’s own public information meeting in August, he emailed Flock Safety Public Affairs representative Kerry McCormack. Ferayorni had created his own “myth vs fact” flyer and letter; he shared it with McCormack for feedback.

“In #5 and #6, it states ‘data is stored by the agency,’” McCormack replied. “While the data is 100% owned by you and you control if/with whom it's shared with, Flock physically stores the data on AWS GovCloud. I would recommend replacing ‘data is stored by the agency’ with ‘data is securely stored.’”

Ferayorni incorporated most of the feedback McCormack gave word for word. Ferayorni declined to comment, and McCormack did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Unlike Newport, Boone and Kenton counties already had access to Flock’s network through a memorandum of understanding, even without their own cameras. Boone’s network access was supposed to end 90 days after signing the agreement, but it was extended for one year. The company extended Kenton County’s agreement for months as well.

Of the five Northern Kentucky cities in this story that used Flock, only Fort Thomas did not initially sign up for a free trial. Instead, the city purchased the minimum of four cameras for two years to access Flock’s national network — a purchase small enough that it didn’t initially require the city manager's official approval or its own line in the budget.

Contracts and incentives

Product demos and discounts are not unusual strategies, and Flock used them to their full potential. Nearly every city and county WVXU looked into enjoyed extensions of free trials and demo equipment, but the company soon began pushing for real purchases.

At the beginning of this year, Kuykendall transferred out of Kentucky and was replaced by Andrew Blanchette. Blanchette began enforcing the end of free network access.

In Boone County, he initially pitched a 30-camera contract. But Millson pushed back, singing the praises of the technology and asking for more time.

Blanchette caved, but began arguing for a smaller deployment in Boone County. He sent a contract for 20 cameras in May, down from 30 cameras, with screenshots of where they would be deployed.

Dany Villarreal Martinez

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WVXU

Blanchette also promised a $24,000 discount on installation fees as long as Millson signed the contract by the end of June. And then, he sent at least seven emails over the next month, constantly reminding Millson that the time for that discount was running out.

“With the end of the month next week I wanted to see if we can get the contract and map signed and completed before the weekend,” Blanchette wrote to Millson on June 29. “I want to ensure we still have that installation discount!”

He dangled more incentives: after a month of follow-ups, Blanchette also promised Millson he would pay for any damage to the cameras.

“If camera is stolen / damaged the cost to replace is $400-$800,” he wrote. “Historically I have been covering the few occurrences myself.”

The contract as written, however, places the police department at full responsibility for repair costs. But Millson did not push back further; Sheriff Les Hill signed the contract June 30.

One factor that differentiates Flock from other AI-powered technology suppliers is the national database. Having access to all of the data collected by every Flock camera in the country was a hard selling point for many police departments, as well as the company’s promises on how it could work with existing technology.

In Newport, that helped sway Captain Drohan.

“Flock Safety was an established automated license plate recognition (ALPR) provider already used by municipalities across the country,” Drohan told WVXU over email when asked why he went with Flock Safety as opposed to other suppliers. “Because criminal investigations frequently extend beyond city boundaries, access to a network of cameras in neighboring cities and states offered a significant operational advantage.”

In Fort Thomas, Lieutenant Nathan Day had heard he could potentially integrate Flock with the current dispatch system.

Day contacted the Independence Police Department, which was able to get the current dispatch system integrated for free. Day wasn’t so lucky.

“After speaking with Flock, it doesn't sound like we will be able to join in with you on this program right now,” Day wrote to Ferayorni in Independence. “We're being told that our current agreement doesn't support the Flock to CAD system, and upgrading would cost us between $3,000 and $60,000.”

While Day wasn’t able to get this deal for Fort Thomas, Kuykendall had already offered another one: the city only had to purchase four cameras to access the national network of Flock cameras. This amount would be low enough to fly under the radar during the upcoming budget season.

Offering these incentives and discounts is on purpose, Wilson, the NKU professor, said. The goal is to keep the contract’s total cost low enough to have better chances at passing and start yielding real-life success stories for Flock to reference.

“That just shows that you do have counties and municipalities that are starting to negotiate with Flock on a one-on-one basis, rather than taking the Flock package all in one,” Wilson said.

'De-Flock' social media campaigns

This summer, social media campaigns to “De-Flock” cities gained national attention. Despite the fact that Flock cameras were operating in almost all Northern Kentucky cities, some of the places did not yet have an official signed contract with the company.

In Newport, Flock doubled down on helping Captain Drohan address public concern. Besides the scripts from the company helping him answer questions in “board-friendly” ways, Flock representatives attended a public town hall meeting in person. This was the only time Flock directly answered questions from residents in Northern Kentucky.

Other departments reached out to Flock, too, seeking advice for combating the rising tide of negative public opinion.

In Boone County, Millson reached out to Blanchette as he prepared to present the contract to elected officials.

Blanchette replied with a link to Flock Safety’s trust center.

A month later, Kenton County Police Chief Spike Jones wrote to Blanchette before his presentation to commissioners.

“We expect our commissioners to ask a lot of questions about the devices. We also recognize that there are some members of the public that do not want us to have the investigative capabilities that Flock Cameras would afford us," he wrote. "I was wondering if you would be available to attend the meeting with me to field any questions that may be beyond my area of expertise? I would be grateful for the assistance if this could be a possibility.”

Blanchette sent an infographic and PDF to aid Jones. While a representative attended the meeting, Flock did not speak to the fiscal court. The project was put on pause the next day.

Despite these attempts, many residents remained skeptical. As public opinion turned and election season neared, many mayors have been at the forefront of cancelling the contracts.

In July, Newport started the trend, with Kenton County and Fort Mitchell soon following. Two weeks later, Kenton’s proposal failed to pass the fiscal court. Independence, Fort Thomas, Florence, Edgewood, and Bellevue followed.

Boone County, which purchased but did not put cameras into service, has paused its contract.

“Under normal circumstances, we would have expected the cameras to be installed on or around October,” sheriff's department spokesperson, Philip Ridgell, told WVXU over email. “However, we haven’t even begun any planning, let alone logistical, permitting and installation considerations because the program was paused by the sheriff shortly after signing the contract.”

In three short months, Flock went from having sold and installed more than 100 cameras in Northern Kentucky, to numerous cancelled contracts and paused accounts. Even so, in early October, many cities were still waiting for Flock to remove the hardware.

Read more

• The buzz — and privacy concerns — about Flock cameras
• Independence removing Flock Safety Cameras
• Lebanon will keep its Flock cameras bagged, not terminate contract